Quest chains and narrative storylines are commonplace in MMORPGs now, but do the inclusion of these elements break the group play experience? Also, Shroud of the Avatar is slated, possibly, for launch this March.

Co-Producers

This episode of Spam Spam Spam Humbug is brought to you by our Patreon backers; thank you to everyone who supports Spam Spam Spam Humbug and the Ultima Codex by that means. And, as always, a hearty thank you to our Patreon co-producers: Seth, Dominik, Chris, Violation, Adam, Erik, Thorwan, Pascal, Helgraf, Aaron, the Hearth of Britannia, Edward, Stirring Dragon, Cranberry, Slegnor, Bruce and Christopher.

New Patrons & Shout-Outs

New this week, we welcome Christopher as a patron of the podcast; he just began supporting us on Patreon, which is now one of two different ways that you can help support the podcast and the Ultima Codex. Many thanks to Christopher!

Podcast Topic(s)

What begins as a discussion about Shroud of the Avatar and its projected March 2018 launch date turns, after a while, into a discussion of the game's technical merits, and then broadens out into a discussion about how many MMORPGs feel more like single-player games with a bunch of people cluttering the map. Some in the discussion feel that quests and narrative elements have hurt the MMO genre more than they have benefitted them; they ostensibly destroy creativity and promote a play style in which players become drones who consume quests and new items, but who don't know what else to do once they are done with them.

Others feel that quests aren't actually bad for MMOs; it's making them single-player experiences that breaks the group experience which should be central to an MMORPG. Having quests helps introduce new players to the game universe by dispensing lore and guiding early character progression. But the argument could be made that, at some point, player progression should be capped until that player belongs to a group.

Oh, and apparently the discussion also shifts to the recent trailer and screenshots that were released for Underworld Ascendant.